'Santa Clarita Diet' - Season 1 Review

If you have read even a few of my other reviews (The OA, The Office, etc.), you will know that I am not the harshest of critics. What I want out of my television is entertainment and enjoyment, and I do not want it to be a chore, either from requiring constant intense focus or from being uninteresting. In short, I am not hard to please.

That said, I am not a fan of Santa Clarita Diet. Don't get me wrong, I did in fact watch all of season 1, but that was more out of a need to complete what I have started and a desire to be informed in order to write a review.

I didn't hate it. But nor did I really enjoy it. The show was just too weird. I like a bit of weird as much as the next person, but eyes popping out of sockets (and being put back), toes falling off and intense amounts of fake vomit, along with a so-far undisclosed method of contracting the disease of the undead is too much weird for me to handle. I like some subtlety with my dose of oddity, and Santa Clarita Diet lacks subtlety. In fact, it's the opposite of subtlety.

If you have not yet watched this new Netflix addition, it premises on Sheila and Joel, a boring suburban couple who spend their lives selling homes and raising their teenage daughter Abby. However, as you may guess from the show's placement in the 'horror-comedy' genre, the boring life is quickly replaced by a (truly) unbelievable turn of events which have Sheila turning into an undead creature.

The cast is made up of Drew Barrymore as Sheila, Timothy Olyphant as Joel and Liv Hewson as Abby. I have no problem with any of them or the cast of supporting characters which consist mainly of Joel and Sheila's neighbours. In fact, Abby and her friend Eric (Skyler Gisondo) are the reasons that I could become invested in the show enough to watch the entire season. However, no amount of amusing teenage angst can quite hide the problem, which is that I cannot get behind the main plot line.

If you do not like horror or gross visual scenes, do not watch this. If you like cheesy and over-the-top 'horror' then you will likely adore this show. Personally, if there is a second season I will have to decide whether it is worth my time to continue watching. If I am lacking in other comedy show options at the time, I likely will, because Santa Clarita Diet is certainly better than nothing. But if i have a good variety of shows to choose from and have not recently finished a number of new releases, it will certainly go on the back burner.

My comments aside, Santa Clarita Diet does currently have an 8/10 rating on IMDb, so someone must be enjoying it. What do you think? Quirky genius chic or over-the-top and unnecessary?

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